Point of View

Roald Dahl tells his novel “The Witches” in the first-person reflective narrative mode, from the point of view of the main character, the untitled narrator. Early in the novel, the narrator notes that he will now be relating a story to the reader about witches being real, and about two experiences he had with witches in his life. By noting he will be speaking about the past, the narrator’s reflective tone is clear in the way he speaks. For example, in the chapter “My Grandmother,” the narrator notes, “I myself had two separate encounters with witches before I was eight years old. From the first I escaped unharmed, but on the second occasion I was not so lucky.” Additionally, the novel assumes the first-person narrative mode because the narrator explains he is about to relate his own personal story, and so it is only...